JMortensen Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I bought these based on this thread over at classiczcars.com: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23482. They are as the thread says "race weight" flares, and they are MAYBE 1/8" thick. Based on the pattern of the glass on the backside of the piece I believe these are made with a chopper gun (can someone verify that?) The box weighed A LOT more than the flares inside, all 4 flares might weigh 2 lbs combined. Probably not a good choice if you're driving on the street, and I'm sure I'll have to warn people not to lean on them. At $65 per pair the price was right, and if I bust one up so bad I need to replace it I won't shed a tear over it. They are a 3" bubble flare. I got rears for the front and back, just like the guy in Fresno. They go all the way down to the bottom of the corner. I know I'm going to have to modify them a lot to get them closer to fitting in the front, I'm hoping I can just hack it straight off, and then modify an airdam to match up to the flare (also thinking of trying to build the front of the flare out so that it covers the whole front of the tire. But that's a later project. I got these now because I need to paint the underside of the car and I figured that I'd better cut up the wheel wells and THEN paint, rather than painting then going back in and cutting the wheel wells. My tentative plan is to cut the wheel arch and use a hammer and dolly to push the fender well out and then weld it straight to the outer lip, a la blueovalz. I'll provide pics as it progresses. Wheel plans with this are going to be 15x10's. Still not sure which tires I'm going to run. I'm considering running O/SP with the new 275/35/15 tire, or possibly running F/P (or E/M if there are any real sticklers for the rules--car is slightly illegal for Prepared because I cut off the rain gutters) using a 11.5x23.5x15 Goodyear slick. I'd like to have the rears tucked under the flares about an inch, and then I want to run spacers up front to make the track wider up front. If anyone knows the offset that would get that done, I'd appreciate that info. I suck with all of that offset stuff, and I was thinking about ordering some Diamond Racing wheels pretty soon here since they're cheap. MAS Racing Products 2288 University Ave St. Paul, MN 55114 ph: 651-644-6811 fax: 651-644-1635 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 They look like they fit pretty good. The finish seems decent too. Do they really seem that fragile? It looks like there is a decent amount of glass in there. I suppose you could add another layer of cloth and resin on the underside to make them stronger. Do they make a 2" front along with the 3" rear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 I don't know for sure that they're terribly fragile. I know that the racing 911 I used to work on was constantly cracking the rear widebody flares, and they were a similar thickness. The front flares are 2" I think. I know they make a box flare as well, I think that one is a 2" flare. Not sure on that though. I'm sure they could tell you if you called them. As far as fit and finish goes, this is my first experience with fiberglass so I don't have any comparison to make, but I would say that they are longer than the standard wheel arch. They are also fairly flexible, so I think they'll bolt up without any problem, and when they get tightened they look like they'll match up pretty good. The exterior surface is pretty porous and I don't think it would look terribly smooth if you just painted it as is. I think for a nice finished look it would need a skim coating to smooth it out. I'll be bolting them on like a ZG just so I can swap one out if I ever have to, but they look like they could be molded in pretty easily if someone were so inclined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 John, You can add a few more layers of mat and resin to stiffen those flares up. Not hard to do at all. For the wheel arc I just did this task on my Z. According to the installation manual you do 2 cuts. First cut is 1/2 inch above the fender lips. the second cut is right above the arc (where it dips on the 1/4) but just cut the outside skin. Then cut the inner fender into 1" strips and fold them out and over the outter fender. Bend the tabs up and cut them to 1/2" short and weld them up. For matching the front spoiler to the fender flares you will need to visualize of how things will look first. Then make appropriate cuts on each pieces. Don't just hack off the flares right the way. Good luck. Vinh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 My car is going to be so low that I'm going to try and use John Coffey's method of making sure the wheel can come up 6" from the top of the tread before it hits the fender. I think that 1/2" rule is fine for stock height vehicles or vehicles without sectioned struts, but if you don't cut enough then the tire can hit the fender underneath the flare. This is discussed a bit in this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=113064&page=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Jody Creegan Used these on his car (jbc3) and has had good success... http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116452 I think an extra layer of matt would work just fine. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 Yep, that's the same flare all right. They're still sending out the 1984 catalog too. Classic stuff! I dig the old T shirts they've got for sale... It's like a time capsule back to 1984, redneck style. Reminded me of when I was a little kid and they had the "Iron-on" store where you could go and buy a shirt and get that crappy iron on that lasted about 2 weeks put on to customize it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 John, You misunderstood me. 1/2" is the first cut to seperate the 2 fender layers. The second cut is above the arc where the fender flares out. This should be 2" above the original fender lips. Another 1/2 inch above this arc is where the inner fender is horizontal. This is as high as you can go unless you want to remove the inner fender and move it up. Edit: I don't have a picture but you can see it in this video how high it is. http://youtube.com/watch?v=5HxZzcPJgYk&mode=related&search= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 John,You misunderstood me. 1/2" is the first cut to seperate the 2 fender layers. The second cut is above the arc where the fender flares out. This should be 2" above the original fender lips. Another 1/2 inch above this arc is where the inner fender is horizontal. This is as high as you can go unless you want to remove the inner fender and move it up. Edit: I don't have a picture but you can see it in this video how high it is. http://youtube.com/watch?v=5HxZzcPJgYk&mode=related&search= OK, now I got you. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 OK, took a look at where and how much to cut. I measured from the top of the tire to 6" above it where it hit the fender. This just happened to be at exactly 2" above the fender lip. Then I looked at the inner fender, and it appears that you can cut about 4" up before you hit the very top of the inside of the fender where the inner and outer fenders are welded together. Not sure why my car would be different than Vinh's, but it is what it is. So I tacked on an extra 1/2" or so to my 6" measurement from the tire (where the lower line is in the pics) just for good measure. I could easily add another 1/2" of height and get away with that too, that way if at some point down the line you can't buy anything less than a 17" tire, then I don't have to redo the thing, maybe just add a longer bumpstop or something. Does that sound like good logic to everyone? Also, what should I use to cut the fender. I have an air saw but it sucks, and I have a jigsaw and some metal blades but I'm worried about screwing up the fender. I could use a cutoff wheel, but they don't do curves too well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primadonna z Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 OK, now I got you. Thanks. Hey Jon, They are chop. If you are going to add some glass, do yourself a favor and mount them the way you want them first. Without the original mold to put them in during the build-up process you're guaranteed a mess.The flares will more than likely be twisted, and your arch wrong. Currently you have the benefit of a lot of flexibility for getting a nice fit. Get them mounted first. Then get some glass on them. Once you have some glass on them, and it has cured, you can remove them and build them up more if you want. It will be harder, and sloppier to do it this way. But it will be alot cleaner in the end. It's one of those "pay me now, or pay me later" scenerios. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlalomz Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Years ago before I had a compressor I hack sawed the lip and then used a drill driven nibbler I got from Eastwood that worked great. http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1450&itemType=PRODUCT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 If hacksawing the fender works then I'd assume that jigsawing it would be less stressful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudeboy Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Jmortensen, As much as I like the IMSA flares, the bubble flares are my favorite. Here is a a pretty neat flare instructional page from the Atlantic Z club. http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/body/flaredfenders/index.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Jon, You are correct on the depth of the inner fenders. Sorry I was incorrect on that. I just checked on my Z and you can cut another 2 inches above the arc and still would be OK. It you are going to cut it high than you will have more room in the back for the saw blade. It will not cause the saw blade to poke into the inner fender when you cut the top line. When I cut mine I used the air saw and it cut very well. If you used a jig saw just go with the finest saw blade so that it won't jerk and bend the fender. I haven't seen any sig saw blade that are finer compare to the air saw's blades. Good luck Vinh PS. I just notice you are in Seattle Wa. My friend with a Cobra Kit Z is in Seattle Wa. I will tell him to contact you and check out your project. He could use some motivations to work on his Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 I think he already did. I'm basically head down working on this thing til I move, he kinda sounded like he wanted to go for a drive, which I obviously can't do at this point... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbc3 Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Like Mike mentioned, I have these flares and they feel plenty strong once they are mounted and a lip was made for the flare opening. I was actually very surprised at how solid they feel once they were done. I was worried that they were too thin and weak also. I have a set of the small front MAS flares that I never installed since I was able to get the front wheels and tires under the stock fender. (Someone make me an offer... they are collecting dust) Here are several pictures of my flares. You can get an idea where I mounted mine. These are the pics I posted awhile back showing the 295/50/16 tires I installed on the rear. Jody 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 I was pretty surprised today. I cut the fender out 2 1/2" above the lip, then threw a wheel on and compressed the suspension and the inside of the tire hit the inside of the fenderwell. I put a .25" spacer on and it hit the outside of the fenderwell. With all the guys trying to stuff the biggest tire they can in the back I was pretty shocked that my 250/45/15 doesn't fit within the CUT fenderwell. I guess it was probably worse when I was running the car previously, although the car was probably bottoming before the tire got all the way up in there previously. Anyway, all you guys with sectioned struts and big tires should be checking for clearance. Here I was thinking I was pretty much done with one side, now I have to do it all over... I can't be the only one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 And I didn't even section my struts... Jamie did cut out a LOT of metal on my fenders when doing my ZG flares. Not sure which spring you'll be running, but that'll help forsure. You're building a track car like mine, so keep that in mind and take the full advantage of those BIG flares! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Jon, Are you sure that you are not exceeding the travel that would be possible with the springs installed? Meaning that the spring would bottom out before the wheel would travel that far up into the fender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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